Internal combustion engine



May 11, 1943. ,J w ANDERSON ETAL 2,318,915

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed July as, 1941 La Sheets-Sheet. 1

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J. W. ANDERSON ETAL.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed July 26, 194]. 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PIC-3.5--

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Patented. May 11, 1943 INTERNAL COMUSTION ENGINE John W. Anderson and William M. Nichols,

Auburn, N. Y., assignors to American Locomothe Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application July 26, 1941, Serial No. 404,138

engines, and more particularly to cylinder heads therefor.

An object of the present invention is to vide an improved cylinder head for an internal combustion engine, devised to direct air into the cylinder to effect in the cylinder a downwardly directed whirling flow of air.

Referring to the drawings forming a part of this application, Figure 1 is a horizontal section, taken on the line II of Figs. 2 and 3, of a portion of an internal combustion engine, including the cylinder head of the present invention; Figs. 2 and 3 are vertical sections of portions of the cylinder head, taken respectively on the lines 11-11 and IIIIII of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is an end view of the cylinder head, viewed from the left of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a section on the line VV of Fig. l; and Fig. 6 is a section on the line VI-VI of Fi 1.

Referring to the drawings, only a cylinder I and a cylinder head 2 of the internal combustion engine are shown. The cylinder head has two air inlet ports 3 and A disposed at one side of the cylinder, each adjacent the wall thereof, and two exhaust ports 5 on the other side of the cylinder. The exhaust ports form no part of the present invention.

In view of the manner in which the two flows of air enter the cylinder, as will later be described, port 3 for convenience is termed the advance port and port 4 a follow port, port 4 being therefore considered at the rear of port 3. An air inlet opening 6 is formed in the front wall I of the head, and, as may be best seen in Fig. 1, opening 5 is oiiset from the cylinder, and is disposed at the same side thereof as the ports 3 and 6. Two passageways 8 and B extend respectively from their outer respective open ends a and I) provided by the opening 6 to ports 3 and 4 for conducting flows of air to the cylinder, the open end I) being to the rear of the open end a. An injector orifice I0 is formed in the cylinder head over the center of the cylinder.

The present invention lies in the particular arrangement and shape of the passageways 3 and 8, in relation to the cylinder and the ports connecting the cylinder and passageways. Passageway 8 is smaller than passageway 9 as may be best seen in Fig; 4. It curves horizontally from its outer open end a inwardly and forwardly to port 3 and at the same time is directed obliquely downwardly adjacent port 3. The vertical plane through the center line of the inner portion of passageway 8 is substantially at right angles to the vertical plane through the axis of the cylinder and the center of the port 3. Strictly. it is not at right angles because it is a curved plane. However, for convenience, it can be said to be substantially at right angles. That is to say, the flow of air through the passageway 8, which is under pressure, is so directed that it is substantially tangent to the cylinder at the pointof adjacency between the cylinder and the Port 3 so that as the flow of air enters the cylinder, it follows the cylindrical cylinder wall as a whirl of air travelling about the axis of the cylinder, the whirl simultaneously moving axially away from the cylinder head. The horizontally curved direction given the passageway, namely inwardly and forwardly to the port 3, in conjunction with the position given the port 3 relative to the cylinder, namely adjacent the cylinder wall, and the cooperation of the cylinder wall are responsible for producing the whirl, and the downward obliquity of the portion of passageway 8 adjacent the port is responsible for the downward movement of the whirl.

Passageway 9 is substantially parallel to, adjacent, and at the rear of passageway 8 (i. e., curves in the same general direction horizontally, inwardly and forwardly from its outer open end b toward port 4).

Passageway 9 has an outer portion curved horizontally and converging inwardly, at top and bottom, from its outer open end b to an intermediate point of passageway 9, and an inner portion curving downwardly from the inner end of the outer portion to port 4. This downwardly curved inner portion of passageway 9, which is substantially vertical adjacent port E, imparts to the air flowing from port 4 into the cylinder a tendency to move downwardly. The horizontal curvature of passageway 9 is sharper than that of passageway 8, that is to say passageway 9 is directed toward passageway 8. This imparts to the air flowing from port 6 into the cylinder a tendency to move toward the air entering the cylinder from port 3, and passageway 8 is therefore considered to be, in relation to the direction of rotation of the whirling air in the cylinder (which is clockwise as viewed in Fig. 1), in advance of passageway 9.

Passageway 9 insures a large supply of air to the cylinder throughout its depthiand passageway 8 insures a mixing in the cylinder and a whirling flow insuring a uniform supply of air throughout the cylinder. The whirling motion of the air in the cylinder insures better mixing of the fuel injected into the cylinder with the air therein, thereby improving combustion conditions in the cylinder which effects more efiicient operation of the engine.

While there has beepr hereinbeiore described an approved embodiment of this invention, it will be understood that many and various changes and modifications in form, arrangement of parts and details of construction thereof may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and that all such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claim are contemplated as a part of this invention.

The invention claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

An internal combustion engine comprising a vertical cylinder; and a head therefor, said head having two horizontal inlet ports and separate passageways therefor for conveying compressed air to said cylinder, the cylindrical side wall of said cylinder, said ports and passageways cooperating to effect, of the compressed air entering the cylinder, a whirl in a predetermined direction about the axis of said cylinder and in a downward axial direction, said head being of hollow boxshaped formation, disposed above said cylinder and having a horizontal bottom wall covering the upper end of said cylinder, said inlet ports being in said bottom wall, opening directly into said cylinder and disposed at the same side of an axial plane of said cylinder, each of said ports having a valve seat for a control valve, said head, on the same side of said axial plane as said ports, extending for a substantial distance laterally beyond said cylinder and terminating in a side wall thereof, said passageways being horizontally curved in the same general direction from end to end and disposed in.said head side by side with their outer ends adjacent each other and opening through said head side wall above said ports and having their walls at their inner ends contiguous with their respective ports, and, with relation to the direction of said whirl, one of said ports being forward of the other of said ports, said passageway outer ends being offset rearwardly from the ports of their respective passageways, and the horizontal curvature of said passageways being bowed in a rearward direction, said forward port being tangent to said cylinder, said forward port passageway at its end portion adjacent its port further being directed obliquely downward to its port, and said other passageway, at its end portion adjacent its port, further being directed vertically downward, said head being further provided with an orifice for an injector disposed at the axis of said cylinder and opening downwardly directly into said cylinder.

JOHN W. ANDERSON. WILLIAM M. NICHOLS. 

